Personally I like the plan, especially kids in college being able to stay on their parents plan. When I was in college I saw the price of medical insurance, on my own, as a healthy 20something was just crazy. I decided to gamble -- and lost. It's when I really started to hate the medical system in the states. I realize I gambled and lost. I paid about 25K for 45 minutes in a hospital and 700 a week for 16 weeks for antibiotics to try to attack the lyme disease. I made a mistake, and understood I had to pay this money, but what made me upset -- is that insurance companies would have paid significantly less for the exact same system. A self-pay patient shouldn't have any different rate than an insurance company.

Secondly, the mandate for insurance is important. How can you mandate auto insurance, and in some cases home insurance, but not require medical. If this was overturned couldn't legal precedent be set to make those insurances optional as well? I'm actually curious if there's any reason why auto is required whereas health insurance wasn't.

How can you mandate auto insurance, and in some cases home insurance, but not require medical. If this was overturned couldn't legal precedent be set to make those insurances optional as well? I'm actually curious if there's any reason why auto is required whereas health insurance wasn't.

The federal goverment cannot even run the national flood Ins Program and you guiys think they can run your health care. The sad part is that this is going to be a very expensive "I Told You So" a few years from now.

Rather make an attempt to restructure healthcare and try something new than sit back like a bunch of dipshits on the right and do nothing. Anybody who has a clue knows rising healthcare costs over the last ten years and with massive aging population, something needed to been now. Yet the right bitches and moans and offers no plan. Please check the figures on health care spending by this country over the last 10 years, do you think we need to do something?

I expected the the conservative court to strike down the individual mandate but I guess Robert was in legacy protection mode. It wasn't all good news though, the chief justice parsed the law such that the feds can't tell states "take xxxx action or else we won't give you monies."

Regardless, I can't wait to hear Romney dance his way around the issue. You guys sent the only guy who can least talk about Obamacare with a knife to a gun fight.

Some things help to explain the difference. Massachusetts health insurance tends to include lower deductibles and other kinds of cost sharing which are much higher in most other states, a difference that inflates MA premiums as compared with those in other states. Massachusetts has the highest proportion of physicians, nurses and many other health professional categories than all other states. And our costs have always been the highest, not just since the Massachusetts health reform law passed in 2006. But still, guilty as charged.

There are other key differences, and the most important one is income. Massachusetts had the 4th highest median household income among the 50 states in 2010 (after Maryland, New Jersey, and Connecticut). That accounts for a big part of the difference. The raw (unadjusted) premiums shown above don't take into account ability to pay. For example, assume Ms. M lives in Massachusetts and has $100 in income and health insurance premiums costing $20. Then assume Mr. A lives in Arkansas, has income of $50, and health insurance premiums costing $15. Even though Mr. A pays less, he is paying 30% of his income and Ms. M is paying 20% of hers. Who is worse off? I think Mr. A from Arkansas.

Checkmate.

__________________ "So let me get this straight. We have the event of the year on TV with millions watching around the world... and people want a punt, pass, and kick competition to be the halftime entertainment?? Folks, don't quit your day jobs."- Matty